Warm Milk and Doodles
by gpoy
Summary: 5 things: LJ, one-shot, fluffy, post-hogwarts, pre-harry


Another one shot distraction, terribly sorry. Carry on . . .

_Warm Milk and Doodles_

"Lily? Lily? Are you awake?" 

James shivered as he watched his wife of barely a week turn over in their bed next to him. 

"I am now," she grumbled, and pulled the covers further over her shoulder. She sighed and watched her breath as it rose in a cloud between them.

"This is ridiculous," she stated. When they had applied to the National Wizarding Central Heating Board, they had told the couple that it would take a few hours to connect their new house at Godric's Hollow to the National Heat Charm Grid. It had been six days and the Potters' home was still decidedly _without_ Central Heating. To make it worse, it was the coldest winter either Lily or James could remember.

James shifted his body next to his wife and reached out tentatively. They had married six days ago, kissed quite passionately several times before that, but James was still afraid to touch her in this new environment. He kept forgetting that she had liked him for years now, and that if he kissed her, she wouldn't pummel or curse him . . . probably. 

Lily laughed softly, sometimes James was just adorable. She took his hands and rubbed their pink fingers together, all the while breathing on them. Then she grasped his hand and sat up.

"Come on," she told him, as she swung her legs out from under the duvet.

"Where are we going?" asked James, reaching for his glasses with his free hand.

"We're going to find more blankets, hot water bottles, anything!" insisted Lily. She led James round the room by the hand, only letting go when she handed him a few sweaters and some slippers. 

"Tomorrow, we'll go and invest in some portable radiators," James promised his wife.

"Too right we will," agreed Lily, as she felt him reach for her hand again in the darkness of the corridor. 

"Lumos," James commanded to the candles in the house, and at once, flames danced on their wicks. Lily opened the cupboard door on the landing, and found it decidedly empty. 

"Damn it," James muttered, "I know we should have emptied the boxes sooner," he added, referring to the multitude of cardboard boxes containing wedding presents, stacked around in the hall downstairs. Lily let out a laugh.

"If I remember correctly, it was _you_ who said you couldn't be bothered and suggested we go out for dinner instead."

"Oh yes, that was fun, we should do it again sometime."

"We've done it six nights in a row!" 

"And a wonderful six nights it was too." 

They had wondered downstairs and into the kitchen, both with the same idea of having a warming cup of tea. James flicked his wand at the kettle, which immediately started to boil, while Lily stood on a chair and hunted around for tea bags. 

"I was thinking the other day," James began, placing two mugs on the kitchen counter. Lily gasped.

"I would have never believed it!" she teased, he voice echoing around the cupboard.

"Touché," James grinned at her knees, for her face was obscured by the cupboard door. "I was thinking about where we should go for our honeymoon."

"James, I don't want a honeymoon, you know that," Lily said.

"I want you to have one," James replied stubbornly. "I want us to go away for a bit, have a good time . . . be [i]_warm[__/i]_ for a change."

"Mr Potter," Lily said, as she stopped rummaging around the cupboard between various odd things like toasted Billywigs, Giant Squid Ink Vinegar and motorcycle oil, "I don't wish to distress you, but it looks like we are out of tea bags."

"Damn it," James exclaimed, "I know we should have emptied the boxes sooner."

"I doubt anyone we know would give us _teabags_ for a wedding present, James," Lily smiled. 

"Well you never know," James replied, raising his eyebrows, "Sirius _has_ been a bit skint lately."

"Oh, wait a minute," Lily said.

"Could it be?" asked James jokingly, stepping up onto the stool beside her, making her squeal while her grasped her round the shoulders to stop her falling off, "A box of tea?"

"No, actually," Lily smiled, reaching into the cupboard with one hand while the other held onto her husband's waist for dear life, "Chocolate."

"Even better!" James grinned, hopping off the stool. Lily, unfortunately was still latched onto his waist, so he had to catch her when she shrieked and fell off as well. He swung the cupboard door shut above her head and picked up his wand, turning to the kettle.

"Now, what's that charm for turning water into milk?"

"James, honestly! It was _on_ your OWL Charms paper!"

"You know what else was on there?"

"What?"

"Rather a lot of doodles, mainly involving the initials JP and LE."

"That was probably the reason you nearly failed," Lily said, flicking her wand to the kettle and pouring the white liquid into each cup. 

"No, you were probably the reason I nearly failed," James corrected her. "I was so lovesick, I couldn't concentrate on revising at all. There I was, pitifully trying to keep my mind off a certain beautiful redhead, getting closer to a 'T' in my NEWTs every day of deprivation." He moved behind her, circling his arms round her waist and leaning his head on her shoulder, letting her hair stroke his cheek. 

"You're being melodramatic," Lily smiled, while she stirred in the powder which, she noticed, was the same colour as her husband's eyes. 

"I'm not!" James exclaimed with grin, hugging her closer, "If you hadn't agreed to tutor me at the last minute, I wouldn't have _definitely_ failed!" He swept her hair over her other shoulder and started pecking her on the cheek.

"And if you had paid attention to what the bloody hell I was saying, then you would have broken the school NEWT record," Lily retorted, tapping the spoon on the side of the mug with a few 'ting!'s.

"I had better things to do," James told her, trying to see of he could give her a kiss for every single freckle she had on her left cheek.

"James, chocolate," Lily said, trying to hand him the mug. Much like their days tutoring in the Library before their NEWTs, James took absolutely no notice whatsoever. "Oi, Potter! If you don't drink it, I'm gonna dump it on your head!" Lily threatened. James tutted and rolled his eyes, taking the mug and drinking it over her shoulder. 

"I'm going to go find some blankets," Lily said, picking up her own mug and heading towards the hall, while her husband retained his hold round her waist and had to be tugged along like a six-foot seven-year-old. 

Lily freed herself from his grasp and started stepping over boxes, opening them up and having a rummage around inside.

"Oh Good God!" she muttered, holding up a violet ceramic pot with some large, quite tasteless flowers painted around the side. 

"That was a friend of my mother's," James explained. 

"And this?" Lily asked, presenting him with a multicoloured, woollen tea-cosy. 

"That was probably Frank and Alice, you know how she knits pathologically when she's nervous."

"Well I think it may have done us good!" said Lily, pulling a large, woollen blanket out of the box. 

"Brilliant," James commented, and dived into one of the boxes himself. "Silver cutlery, few puppy ornaments, automatic wand-polisher . . . aha! Hot water bottles!"

"Hoorah!" cheered Lily. James squinted at the packaging.

"Self filling, self heating, very swish! By the way, I've just remembered. Remus has ordered copies of the wedding photos."

"Oh no!" sighed Lily, "What's he gonna say when he finds that you can never see him because he's always behind your mum's hat?"

"Good thing he's a good sport," grinned James, "Sirius would have sulked for a week." 

They trooped up the stairs again, hand in hand, while James fiddled with the automatic hot water bottle one-handedly. Lily duplicated the woollen blanket about five times and spread them one after another over the quilt, while her husband planted the hot water bottles down the other end of the bed, near their feet. It took them two minutes of shifting and snuggling to establish warmth in the cold sheets and soon the only sounds in the room were from the two persons' separate breathing. 

James hesitantly inched over to the left a little. Lily's eyes opened, but her husband couldn't see them because she was lying with her face away from him. James rolled over, moving himself a little more to the left. A smile tugged at his wife's lips. James's hand reached over to the left until he could feel his wife's body heat, as if he were warming his hands on a fire.

All of sudden, he abandoned any restraint he may have had before, and roped an arm round Lily, dragging her across the sheets into his embrace. 

So what if she cursed him? It would be worth it. Lily let out a small squeal, and laughed softly once she found herself decidedly in a James cuddle. She shifted so she was facing him and hugged him round the heck and torso, savouring the comfort and heat she felt soaking through her skin.

James sighed and breathed in his wife's smell, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin on his rough hands. 

And it could definitely be said; central heating or no, that that was the warmest either of them had ever felt before.     


End file.
